Smintheum

The temple of Apollo, seen from the road. Photo Jona Lendering.

Smintheum: temple of Apollo in the southwestern Troad.

The shrine of Apollo Smintheus ("destroyer of mice") is mentioned by Homer in the Iliad (1.39) as the temple where Chryses was priest. The town next to the temple was sometimes called Chryse, and the priest's daughter was therefore known as Chryseis, "the girl from Chryse", while the name of the priest simply means "the man from Chryse". She was taken captive by Agamemnon, who was besieging Troy.

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Nave	Entrance	Stairs	Part of the roof	Acroterion

Inscription mentioning a honorary member of the decurional order.

Understandably, Chryses did not like the capture of his daughter and invoked his god to punish the Greeks. Apollo indeed intervened, and the beginning of the Iliad mentions a plague caused by Apollo's arrow, which forces the Greek commander to give back the girl to her father.

The sanctuary, whether correctly identified or not, was shown in later times. The ruin we see today, dates back to the mid-second century BCE, and has several Latin inscriptions. Measuring 22.4 x 40.3 meters, it has an unusual 8x14 Ionic columns of Proconessian marble. The cult statue, which is known from the coins of Alexandria Troas, shows Apollo stepping on a mouse.

A satellite photo can be seen here.